“The people’s needs are never so simple as they seem,” he said, taking his favorite seat in the pavilion, built overlooking the koi pond. “Even I, with two such hands as these, could never hope to meet them all at once. My sons will not suffer with such difficulties. Your brother protects what land we have, while you provide for our subjects. Just as we cannot provide if the land is taken from us, so the protection becomes meaningless if you squander what gifts may be gleaned from it.”
My father had never been one to waste words on meaningless praise. He had never spoken to me thus before, and I sought to memorize his words even as I watched the multicolored fish swarming over and past one another like brightly colored veils, orange and white, blue and gold.
I had not returned to the pavilion since the assault on our city, but it bolstered my spirit somewhat to know that the fish would remember our conversation. That though I could no longer ask my father for confirmation of his words, there was some creature left who had been witness to them.
The women combed back what was left loose of my hair, leaving the warrior’s braids to hang tight and wet over the left shoulder. That configuration meant I was still little more than a child. There was jade in my hair, jade pierced through my ears, jade hung round my neck and clasped around my wrists. Yet it was white jade, for only the emperor could wear the green. I wondered at the sight my brother would present to the retainers of our house, and to the seven closest houses beneath us, when he stepped out into the sunlight to greet the diplomats from Volstov. I wouldn’t see him until they did.
I hoped they would tremble at the sight, proud as our father would have been. I hoped they would feel shame, or at least the barest whisper of terror.
Pride welled up in my heart, bitter and fiercely strong. Now that we were at peace, I no longer wore the robes of a warrior; nevertheless, the crest of my father’s house was woven into the fabric of my robes, the same as it was woven into the robes my brother wore.
I could almost hear my father say: This, too, is a warrior’s duty.
The servants fell away from me, all but one, who dropped to his knees and slid the door open. Kouje was waiting for me in the hall, bowing low, so that I couldn’t see his face.
I didn’t have to.
“My lord,” he said, “all is ready.”
It was then that we heard the sudden commotion from without. From where we were on the eastern side of the palace, just above the courtyard, the sound of the carriages arriving was harsh and jarring. Kouje did not even lift his head, and though the servants scattered, I held myself in place and checked my desire to run to the window and see them as they were, invaders from a distant land arriving under the colors of peace.
My hands trembled.
“My lord,” Kouje said again.
I straightened myself as my brother would have done. The trick, I knew, was to rein yourself in as you would a wild horse. A man had two hearts, one public and one private. The latter held all his truths while the former was more easily steered and more easily broken.
“The emperor is waiting,” I said. “Come.”
CAIUS
We had already reached the Ke-Han gardens, but still I had no idea who had decided that General Alcibiades should be among the delegation of peace to the capital. Presumably it must have been the Esar who made that choice, as he was the supreme ruler of all Volstov’s subjects, but I had never known the Esar to exhibit even the slightest sense of humor. Such peculiar capriciousness simply wasn’t his style, and while I was personally amused, I was also bewildered. This suggested that there must have been some other element in his decision-making process, which meant that Alcibiades had some hidden quality that did not become apparent even when one shared a carriage with him from one capital city to another.
So as yet, I could see no reason beyond accident or my own good luck for such an unexpected anomaly to have occurred right here, and in my carriage of all places.
In short, I was delighted, although I suspected the other members of our party did not